Has it really been 8 months since I last blogged? Yes. To be honest, I didn't even remember how to work this thing.
Why? I blame it on the dog. He takes up a great deal of my day. Then I blame the theatre with its lure of easy money and fame. Hold on, I just fell off my chair laughing.
After that I can blame food bloggers in general for being almost as obnoxious as musical theatre actors. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I can also blame restaurants. It seems, once I started reviewing restaurants, I couldn't have a good dining experience if my life depended on it...Darien Social, Zaza... I hate to be an ass and say "I'm a food blogger, give me good service" so I just stopped being a food blogger.
Ultimately, I must blame myself. I dropped the ball. I haven't written much for Alternative Control. And I haven't even been writing plays. I've just been rolling around in depression, excess weight and puppy love.
Can I promise you I'll be blogging with a passion once again? No. In the coming months I'll be adding some new hats to my collection - producer and therapy pet handler to be exact. So I don't know what I'll be doing with this blog. BUT I'm always on Facebook, sometimes on Twitter and now on Instagram.
-HH
Sunday, January 6, 2013 Rosemary Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup olive oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
--------------------------
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/8+ teaspoon of Penzy's powdered rosemary *
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest **
--------------------------
1 cup chocolate chips
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Put aside.
Mix olive oil and sugar in a big bowl until it has an even consistency. Add one egg at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each one.
Stir in vanilla.
Stir in dry ingredients. When batter is coming together add chips and continue to stir until all the ingredients are combined.
* I put 1/8 teaspoon on rosemary in the flour mixture and then stirred it up. If you can smell the rosemary there's enough. If you can't smell it add more in small increments.
** I used a peeler to take the yellow zest off 1/4 of a large lemon and chopped it very finely on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes.
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
--------------------------
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/8+ teaspoon of Penzy's powdered rosemary *
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest **
--------------------------
1 cup chocolate chips
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Put aside.
Mix olive oil and sugar in a big bowl until it has an even consistency. Add one egg at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each one.
Stir in vanilla.
Stir in dry ingredients. When batter is coming together add chips and continue to stir until all the ingredients are combined.
* I put 1/8 teaspoon on rosemary in the flour mixture and then stirred it up. If you can smell the rosemary there's enough. If you can't smell it add more in small increments.
** I used a peeler to take the yellow zest off 1/4 of a large lemon and chopped it very finely on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes.
Monday, October 15, 2012 Cadbury Screme Egg Chili
Back by popular demand - my clevage and chili \m/
Here's the basic recipe
2 jalapeno peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
Rough chop them all, sweat them in olive oil in a dutch oven on the stove top.
Add spices - this is all according to your taste. And you'll need to reseason again later.
Chili, cumin, paprika, allspice, cinnamon, oragano, salt, pepper, cayenne.
1 pound ground turkey.
Throw the meat in the dutch oven and break it up as best you can while it cooks. Then add...
about 4 Tablespoons of tomato paste
3 cups of chicken stock
1 Cadbury Screme Egg
Cover and toss it in the oven at 250 for 2-3 hours. Check it every once in a while to be sure the moisture doesn't disappear and you can reseason at your will.
Close to the end add 1/2 cup of partly cooked macaroni (it'll finish cooking in the chili and soak up any extra moisture. Throw in some cubes of cheese and let them melt before serving...with fried bread.
And check out Hardline!
-HH
Friday, August 24, 2012 Stamford Baked Beans - the recipe
Here they are - Stamford Baked Beans
Please feel free to share, make them in your world class restaurant, your hot dog joint, your food truck. Just be sure to give me, The Headbanging Hostess, credit - or I will write plays about what a jerk you are for the rest of eternity :)
Ha! Okay, here goes.
_________________________________________________
Stamford Baked Beans
1 1/2 cups dry beans (available in bulk at Fairway)
-Black Turtle Beans
-Adzuki Beans
-Cannellini Beans
-Pinto Beans
-Red Kidney Beans
Soak the beans overnight then cook on the stove in the same water for two hours, replace water as needed.
For the Sauce...
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup (from the Stamford Museum and Nature Center if possible, if not then from CT)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chipotle
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch each of Ajwain seeds, smoked paprika, nutmeg, cayenne, allspice, cloves, ginger.
Combine in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Also...
1 8oz. package of duck bacon
1 vidalia onion, diced
Cook bacon in pan only enough to render some fat, put aside. Cook onion in duck fat.
Combine beans, sauce and onion in a casserole dish or dutch oven, cover with bacon (and lid) and cook at 200-250 for at least 6 hours. Keep checking it, you may need to add more water, that's okay.
For pizza crust - take a 9 ounce portion of dough, stretch it out with your hands as best you can and then place on an oiled pizza pan. Push the dough out to the edges using your knuckles and/or fingertips. Coat with olive oil, dust with salt and bake at 450-500 for 10-15 minutes until desired doneness.The pizza crust makes the perfect vessel for bringing the sweet and spicy beans to your mouth. Tonight, I put them on hot dogs :)
In my humble opinion, I have done a fantastic job creating a dish that represents my hometown. And don't forget to check out Stamford Baked Beans the play \m/
-HH
Thursday, August 2, 2012 Stamford Domination is MINE!!! \m/
Big thanks, huge ups, and high fives all around - Hey Stamford has declared my Twitter feed one of 31 to follow in Stamford. I'm in good company - OmNomCT, CT Bites, Bar Q...all the big names :) Oh, and also the Downtown Special Services District...and, I guess, you can say, there's a little beef between them and me. Tiny beef. Like veal. Or cow abortion. No need to go into details...but let's just say I'm not a fan of Alive at Five, which is their big event every summer. I used to love it - years ago when it was cool and relaxed and a good time; when it was free to go and you could bring a picnic and walk around with drinks that you could get from the bars to-go... Now you have to pay to get in, you have to buy their beer...actually I don't even know anymore because I haven't been in years. What began as a gift to the citizens of Stamford has become yet another way to make a ton of money - citizens be damned. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's mostly out of towners... Anyhoo... My big problem? No local music. They're all "national acts" that no one's heard of... well, no one old enough to drink has heard of...
So yesterday, when I began the 31 plays in 31 days project, which you can follow on my new blog, my first play was inspired by someone from the DSSD telling Pink Missile they were "too metal" for Alive at Five. True story.
I'm ashamed of my town for this.
Civic pride? I'm not feelin' it.
I'd rather go see the K.T. Murphy marching band than the latest reality TV singer. But I guess I'm alone in that. Or outnumbered.
Gee, that's never happened before...
And, anyway, it's well established that I'd rather stay home and eat my own cooking than go out and take my chances. I'm an old lady. Almost 40!
But I will embrace this distinction and challenge myself to keep up with the ol'twitter, and blogs, and Facebook...
Thank you, Hey Stamford! You rock!
-HH
PS - Alternative Control is also a kick-ass twitter feed \m/
So yesterday, when I began the 31 plays in 31 days project, which you can follow on my new blog, my first play was inspired by someone from the DSSD telling Pink Missile they were "too metal" for Alive at Five. True story.
I'm ashamed of my town for this.
Civic pride? I'm not feelin' it.
I'd rather go see the K.T. Murphy marching band than the latest reality TV singer. But I guess I'm alone in that. Or outnumbered.
Gee, that's never happened before...
And, anyway, it's well established that I'd rather stay home and eat my own cooking than go out and take my chances. I'm an old lady. Almost 40!
But I will embrace this distinction and challenge myself to keep up with the ol'twitter, and blogs, and Facebook...
Thank you, Hey Stamford! You rock!
-HH
PS - Alternative Control is also a kick-ass twitter feed \m/
Sunday, July 29, 2012 Perfecting a Peck of Pickle Biscuits
The idea was somewhat born of the cucumber muffins I've been baking. I mean, if you can put a cucumber in a muffin why not a pickle in a biscuit? This is, thus far, the only recipe I've thought of that I couldn't find a recipe for on Google. But, never fear, my Slammin' Drop Biscuits recipe was ready to be altered. Here goes.
Pickle Biscuits
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
---------------------------------
1/2 stick melted butter (cooled)
---------------------------------
3/4 cup equalish parts of well chopped pickle and sour cream
(Not very exact, I know. Know this, the sour cream is needed for the science of the recipe to work)
Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt your butter and let it cool.
Put your pickles in the food processor or mini chopper and add the sour cream - blend until it looks like this...
Then you add the wet to the dry and mix until it is just incorporated - do not over mix! Then put clumps of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 475 for 8-10 minutes. I got 5 biscuits out of this recipe.
We had them with kielbasa, peppers and onions - quite tasty if I do say so myself. Rock on! \m/
-HH
Saturday, June 16, 2012 Cucumber Chocolate Chip Muffins?
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch each of cardamom and rosemary
...and for some reason here's a huge space...
____________________________________
1 egg, beaten
3/8 cup of milk
1/3 cup of bacon grease (you can use any fat you want. We had bacon last night so I saved the fat in the pan for muffins. That's the way my brain works sometimes.)
____________________________________
1 cup of grated cucumber (seeded and peeled then squeezed dry)
____________________________________
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
So, remember what the lines are for? Those indicate your mixing pattern. Mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Mix the wet ingredients (minus the cucumber) in a separate bowl. Add wet to dry and stir a few times. Do not let it fully come together just yet, just a few strokes for now. Then add the cucumber in clumps and then stir a few more strokes. Then fold in the chocolate chips just as the batter all comes together. You don't want to over mix your muffins. Horrible, unspeakable things happen to muffins when you over mix them. Things like tunneling, when there's a big tunnel of air baked into the structure of the muffin - oh, the humanity!
Scoop into a lined cupcake pan - makes 12 muffins. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes and enjoy!
-HH
Friday, May 11, 2012 Melt Mobile Rocks Downtown Stamford
I finally got my medium-sized ass down to Melt Mobile today. Of course I forgot to take pictures, I'm one hell of a reviewer, huh?
Right off the bat - this is super cool for Stamford. I don't know how these chicks managed to swing their spot but it's a real nice location and it's easy to get to. I parked on the 3rd level of the mall (Greyrock and Main) and walked through the "Shoppes at Old Main," where there's no fucking shops, and there it was. As I walked up to the truck one of the girls started gushing about my puppy Apollo, telling me he's the cutest dog she's ever seen. As a matter of fact she's right, Apollo is the cutest puppy anyone will ever see. He, of course, isn't too fond of trucks (or recycling bins) so my husband walked him around the park (skillfully avoiding a pit bull puppy) and I ordered. One Caprese (fresh mozzarella, prosciutto di Parma, fire roasted peppers, Roma tomatoes and pesto aioli on calamata olive bread) and one Mademoiselle (here I go again, the ever competent reviewer. Not sure of the ingredients and I can't find it on the FB Page - gruyere, brie, prosciutto, arugula and currant jelly on pecan bread...something like that). The two sandwiches and a water came to 17 bucks, not bad, and it took about 7-8 minutes for them to come out.
We hopped back in the car and went to Cummings Park to eat. Don't do that with a puppy, broken glass everywhere. Anyway...
The Mademoiselle was the first one I tried, and back before Bobby Flay put his stamp on Melt Mobile's menu this was the one I HAD to have. It's a beautiful sandwich with a perfect buttery grilled crunch, but the first bite didn't do it for me. I'm not sure any of the other bites did, either. I liked the arugula, but I think the salty meat took over and didn't quite work with the bread choice. And the cheese was lost. I did get one good bite that must have had a glob of jelly and that really brought home a wild game flavor for some reason - that was good. But I'm not sure if this sandwich works for me. Maybe my mouth got confused, that's always a possibility.
Now the Caprese - ho, ho HO! That mother fucker is one damn good grilled cheese sammich! One bite of that and I was moaning with pleasure in the middle of Cummings Park. That's kinda funny, go back and read that again...moaning with pleasure in CUMMINGS park. Okay, back to the sammich - the roasted peppers...oh, the roasted peppers. Oh, oh, OH! They were amazeballs (as the kids say) the tomato the perfect temperature, the olive bread, oh, the olive bread. Oh, oh, OH! I was moaning with pleasure in Cummings Park, I tells you. Amazeballs.
So that's that. Def check out Melt Mobile. Not only are they great for Stamford but they're great for your tummy. Even though I wasn't a fan of the Mademoiselle I am a fan of these lovely young ladies and their business. Two-Tits Up for Melt Mobile! I will be going back (probably without the puppy) to try the dessert melts :) Mmm... Dessert melts... Oh, oh, OH!
-HH
P.S. - This is possibly the most fun I've ever had writing a review. I had a great afternoon with my hubby, my puppy and Melt Mobile. What else can I say? Go, go, GO!
Right off the bat - this is super cool for Stamford. I don't know how these chicks managed to swing their spot but it's a real nice location and it's easy to get to. I parked on the 3rd level of the mall (Greyrock and Main) and walked through the "Shoppes at Old Main," where there's no fucking shops, and there it was. As I walked up to the truck one of the girls started gushing about my puppy Apollo, telling me he's the cutest dog she's ever seen. As a matter of fact she's right, Apollo is the cutest puppy anyone will ever see. He, of course, isn't too fond of trucks (or recycling bins) so my husband walked him around the park (skillfully avoiding a pit bull puppy) and I ordered. One Caprese (fresh mozzarella, prosciutto di Parma, fire roasted peppers, Roma tomatoes and pesto aioli on calamata olive bread) and one Mademoiselle (here I go again, the ever competent reviewer. Not sure of the ingredients and I can't find it on the FB Page - gruyere, brie, prosciutto, arugula and currant jelly on pecan bread...something like that). The two sandwiches and a water came to 17 bucks, not bad, and it took about 7-8 minutes for them to come out.
We hopped back in the car and went to Cummings Park to eat. Don't do that with a puppy, broken glass everywhere. Anyway...
The Mademoiselle was the first one I tried, and back before Bobby Flay put his stamp on Melt Mobile's menu this was the one I HAD to have. It's a beautiful sandwich with a perfect buttery grilled crunch, but the first bite didn't do it for me. I'm not sure any of the other bites did, either. I liked the arugula, but I think the salty meat took over and didn't quite work with the bread choice. And the cheese was lost. I did get one good bite that must have had a glob of jelly and that really brought home a wild game flavor for some reason - that was good. But I'm not sure if this sandwich works for me. Maybe my mouth got confused, that's always a possibility.
Now the Caprese - ho, ho HO! That mother fucker is one damn good grilled cheese sammich! One bite of that and I was moaning with pleasure in the middle of Cummings Park. That's kinda funny, go back and read that again...moaning with pleasure in CUMMINGS park. Okay, back to the sammich - the roasted peppers...oh, the roasted peppers. Oh, oh, OH! They were amazeballs (as the kids say) the tomato the perfect temperature, the olive bread, oh, the olive bread. Oh, oh, OH! I was moaning with pleasure in Cummings Park, I tells you. Amazeballs.
So that's that. Def check out Melt Mobile. Not only are they great for Stamford but they're great for your tummy. Even though I wasn't a fan of the Mademoiselle I am a fan of these lovely young ladies and their business. Two-Tits Up for Melt Mobile! I will be going back (probably without the puppy) to try the dessert melts :) Mmm... Dessert melts... Oh, oh, OH!
-HH
P.S. - This is possibly the most fun I've ever had writing a review. I had a great afternoon with my hubby, my puppy and Melt Mobile. What else can I say? Go, go, GO!
Thursday, May 10, 2012 Kudos to Fairway
If you follow my Facebook page you'll know I have been on and off the fence about Fairway in recent weeks. Where I live, in Stamford, we've only got one real neighborhood supermarket - Grade A/Shop Rite. We have been going there since we moved here over 10 years ago. There are good and bad things about Grade A. The good? Well, they always have a ton of cashiers working, you rarely have to wait long to get checked out. They also don't use pink slime in their beef, another good. I can walk there, that's good. And... well, maybe that's it. The bad about Grade A? Dishonesty in the prices. When something scans at the wrong price you're supposed to get it for free...not the case at Grade A unless you start yelling. My husband figured that out. According to state law there should be a sign telling customers about this law...but theirs is missing. My gut tells me the FILTHY RICH family that owns it likes to take advantage of the clientele - lots of immigrants, WIC folks and people who just may not know what their rights are. And there's always a stray woman from Shippan (the FILTHY RICH section of the town) in her fur coat and Mercedes wandering among the WIC folks at the top of the month with their carts full of crap...that they load into an Escalade... Yeah, not a fun place to shop.
So Fairway opened last year some time...it's only a few minutes further away than Grade A. At first it seemed like a great store, then as time went on it seemed the prices snuck up. I don't know. I have trouble processing the prices of things sometimes. It hasn't quite taken the place of Grade A in my life. What's good about Fairway? Number one - The liquor store is RIGHT THERE! If you plan your parking spot right you can walk out of the store, into the liquor store and out to your car without any hassle. Fairway, of course, has a fancier selection than Grade A - you can buy British candy, any kind of cheese you can imagine, they have a thousand or so types of olive oil (some of them horrendously bitter, you can taste them all) and they have house made peanut butter. That is my current addiction.
They also have Wallaby yogurt, which I have learned to love. They have neat flavors like maple and pear. So when I drop my husband and Apollo off at the beach for a walk I rush down to Fairway and fill my basket with peanut butter, Wallaby yogurt and whatever else strikes my fancy. Imagine my surprise when I went in this week to discover the price on my yogurt had risen 20 cents! And was on sale 10 cents off! This immediately got my goat, so to speak. I actually ripped the sale sticker off the display to check the price. I was floored. Over twenty cents. Silly, I guess. But I had rationalised my trip with this yogurt. I was paying 75 cents a piece at Grade A for La Yogurt - 79 cents for organic yogurt at Fairway seemed like a good idea. But when it was 99 or 89 - suddenly I felt I was being played. And when I found I still had the receipts to prove the price difference I fired off an angry e-mail to Fairway. And I mentioned the cashiers there suck. They do. If there's any reason not to raise the minimum wage in Connecticut it's them. Slow as hell, they talk too much to the baggers...it's just not the right way to end the Fairway shopping experience.
Well, kudos to Fairway! They e-mailed me regarding the pricing - it seems I paid 79 cents during a special promotion, the usual price is 99 cents and the 89 cents was the on sale price. I give big props to anyone who answers my snotty e-mails. LOL. I'll admit it, I get snotty when I'm pissed. But the guy who answered me was very professional and he said he'd forward the e-mail to the store manager and that the problem with the cashiers was unacceptable. Truth be told I'd still pay the higher price for the yogurt, it's that good. And the peanut butter is my addiction, so I have no choice but to go to Fairway at least once a week.
So, what's the moral of this story? Speak up, I guess.
-HH
So Fairway opened last year some time...it's only a few minutes further away than Grade A. At first it seemed like a great store, then as time went on it seemed the prices snuck up. I don't know. I have trouble processing the prices of things sometimes. It hasn't quite taken the place of Grade A in my life. What's good about Fairway? Number one - The liquor store is RIGHT THERE! If you plan your parking spot right you can walk out of the store, into the liquor store and out to your car without any hassle. Fairway, of course, has a fancier selection than Grade A - you can buy British candy, any kind of cheese you can imagine, they have a thousand or so types of olive oil (some of them horrendously bitter, you can taste them all) and they have house made peanut butter. That is my current addiction.
They also have Wallaby yogurt, which I have learned to love. They have neat flavors like maple and pear. So when I drop my husband and Apollo off at the beach for a walk I rush down to Fairway and fill my basket with peanut butter, Wallaby yogurt and whatever else strikes my fancy. Imagine my surprise when I went in this week to discover the price on my yogurt had risen 20 cents! And was on sale 10 cents off! This immediately got my goat, so to speak. I actually ripped the sale sticker off the display to check the price. I was floored. Over twenty cents. Silly, I guess. But I had rationalised my trip with this yogurt. I was paying 75 cents a piece at Grade A for La Yogurt - 79 cents for organic yogurt at Fairway seemed like a good idea. But when it was 99 or 89 - suddenly I felt I was being played. And when I found I still had the receipts to prove the price difference I fired off an angry e-mail to Fairway. And I mentioned the cashiers there suck. They do. If there's any reason not to raise the minimum wage in Connecticut it's them. Slow as hell, they talk too much to the baggers...it's just not the right way to end the Fairway shopping experience.
Well, kudos to Fairway! They e-mailed me regarding the pricing - it seems I paid 79 cents during a special promotion, the usual price is 99 cents and the 89 cents was the on sale price. I give big props to anyone who answers my snotty e-mails. LOL. I'll admit it, I get snotty when I'm pissed. But the guy who answered me was very professional and he said he'd forward the e-mail to the store manager and that the problem with the cashiers was unacceptable. Truth be told I'd still pay the higher price for the yogurt, it's that good. And the peanut butter is my addiction, so I have no choice but to go to Fairway at least once a week.
So, what's the moral of this story? Speak up, I guess.
-HH
Friday, May 4, 2012 If You Haven't Noticed...
...I haven't been too focused on the blog. It's been months since I made a dinner party video and, quite frankly, I've lost some of my passion for food. Some of this can be blamed on my diet (still only 10 pounds gone), more this can be blamed on my puppy Apollo and the rest can be blamed on my being a playwright. The good news is I have a fantastic full-length play called Showers of Happiness. I'm currently working on the third draft. It takes place at a baby shower and, of course, food is a big part of the structure. For some reason all my full-lengths have food as a big part of the focus. I also recently became a member of a theatre workshop (Theatre Artists Workshop, to be exact) and I'm looking forward to the possibilities that brings. So, I'm back in the theatre world. I apologize, but that's gonna split my attention.
Yesterday was the National Day of Reason and I watched last year's video. I was appalled at how much I don't look like me from a year ago...at least I don't feel I look that good. So I went on a walk to the beach - I'm determined to get myself back into some sort of shape. This summer I'll be taking an actual fitness class! So I will keep you updated on my progress. I have 6 months before I turn 40. I'd like to be in good shape for the big day.
In other news, you can see me in Season 2 of Scenes from the Movies. Filmmaker Mike Field was kind enough to plug me in a great article on Milford Patch. The Alternative Control crew (me included) mentioned Mike when we did our radio interview last month. I love how we've all come together from different fields of entertainment (music, theatre, film). I dunno, I just think it's super cool.
As always you can check out my articles and others on Alternative Control. We've got a great thing going - people writing up thier musical influences. TWO mentions for Sugarland. Gotta love a metal blog with a taste for country. I did apply to sing with Jennifer Nettles on Duets (Pixie encouraged me) but I didn't get a call. That's fine, because I don't want to leave my baby :)
So the hiatus kinda continues. But rest assured, my creative talents are still going to good use. Plays are food for the soul. Especially my plays. LOL. I tend to think they're all brilliant. I wrote a short one the other day called The Tale of Yield and Tire - mark my words, that play is going places. As is Showers of Happiness. So stick with me, folks. The entertainment is gonna keep coming - in many forms. Some edible, some just mouthwatering.
-HH
Yesterday was the National Day of Reason and I watched last year's video. I was appalled at how much I don't look like me from a year ago...at least I don't feel I look that good. So I went on a walk to the beach - I'm determined to get myself back into some sort of shape. This summer I'll be taking an actual fitness class! So I will keep you updated on my progress. I have 6 months before I turn 40. I'd like to be in good shape for the big day.
In other news, you can see me in Season 2 of Scenes from the Movies. Filmmaker Mike Field was kind enough to plug me in a great article on Milford Patch. The Alternative Control crew (me included) mentioned Mike when we did our radio interview last month. I love how we've all come together from different fields of entertainment (music, theatre, film). I dunno, I just think it's super cool.
As always you can check out my articles and others on Alternative Control. We've got a great thing going - people writing up thier musical influences. TWO mentions for Sugarland. Gotta love a metal blog with a taste for country. I did apply to sing with Jennifer Nettles on Duets (Pixie encouraged me) but I didn't get a call. That's fine, because I don't want to leave my baby :)
So the hiatus kinda continues. But rest assured, my creative talents are still going to good use. Plays are food for the soul. Especially my plays. LOL. I tend to think they're all brilliant. I wrote a short one the other day called The Tale of Yield and Tire - mark my words, that play is going places. As is Showers of Happiness. So stick with me, folks. The entertainment is gonna keep coming - in many forms. Some edible, some just mouthwatering.
-HH
Monday, April 23, 2012 Is It Ethical To Eat Meat? - My New York Times Essay Contest Submission
So the New York Times put out a call for essays on the subject of the ethics of eating meat. I, of course, jumped at the chance to make my case in a humorous yet slighty intelligent manner. My mother was once published by the Times. It looks like I will have to wait for that honor - I was not one of the six finalists. But here it is anyway. Enjoy \m/
Why is it ethical to eat meat? Well, you wouldn’t want to
let it go to waste, would you? Waste is a sin and that makes wasting meat
unethical. Why waste a perfectly good complete protein? I mean, you could
combine some incomplete proteins, like rice and beans, for complementary
proteins, but if the meat is already sitting there going to waste… I mean, what
are you going to do with the meat, just throw it out so it rots in some
landfill? You can’t compost it. Are you going to bury it? Like a proper burial
in a cemetery? That’s kind of a waste of space, don’t you think? I suppose you
could put it in the freezer but that’s kind of a waste of space, too. You could
keep a ton of uneaten rice and beans there, instead.
Actually, you know who might be interested in eating some
of those rice and beans? Some of those heritage breeds that are going extinct
because of the rise of commercial farming; I bet they’d love some rice and beans
and maybe that spot of land you were going to bury them in to live on. It’s
quite a shame, the loss of the family homestead. Maybe people have become so far
removed from food production they’ve forgotten how important domesticated
animals are to agriculture and to our survival as a species. Not only do they
provide meat, they provide the power to plow the fields and the nitrogen to fuel
them. Pigs root, chickens scratch; every animal on the farm has a job, and most
of them roast up nicely. And even Hunter/Gatherer societies ate meat; I’ve never
heard of Gatherer/Gatherer societies, have you?
Gee, if every community committed to saving just one
heritage breed we could save them all, asses to turkeys. How hard can it be? Get
a few Narragansett turkeys or Midget Whites and throw them in a coop. Let them
lay some eggs and sit on them (the turkeys, not you) and then let the things
grow up for a bit. Once they reach a certain age you’ll have to check them for
the breed standard. You don’t want to breed sub-par turkeys. The ones that don’t
live up to the standard of the breed that your community is trying to preserve
you cull. Cull is a nice way to say kill – or you could give them away as pets,
not to be bred. But let’s say someone in your community wants a nice turkey
dinner for some special occasion. They contact the butcher, the butcher contacts
you, you both decide who will do the dirty work and for what price the butchered
turkey will sell, the family gets their turkey dinner and money has exchanged
hands – leaving you and the butcher able to feed your families. And someone gets
a turkey feather tuffet to sit and eat their rice and beans on.
Yes, I skimmed over the killing part a bit. It’s not
pleasant, but unpleasant doesn’t automatically mean unethical. Over thousands of
years man has learned how to utilize every part of the animal he killed, to not
let any of it go to waste. They even made pink slime somewhat edible. (Don’t
worry, man will find another use for pink slime; scented candles, automobile
fuel, something like that.) And rice and beans will never go out of style. But
here we are with dozens of breeds of domesticated farm animals who may go
extinct if we don’t make an effort to save them. And, yes, that also means
eating their meat.
Sunday, April 22, 2012 Sophisticated Sunday Morning Cookies
Here goes - (measurements are BY WEIGHT, get a postal scale)
4 oz olive oil
7 oz white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
-------------------
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping Tablespoon of sour cream
-------------------
6 oz AP flour
1/8 teaspoon powdered rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
5 oz oats
1 Tablespoon milled flax seed
-------------------
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
zest of 1/2 a lemon
So the lines, again, are indicating your mixing. You don't even need a mixer for these, a rubber spatula will do. Mix the first three, then add the second three, then add the dry ingredients (that have been whisked together.) When the batter is almost all the way mixed add the chips and zest - this helps prevent over mixing. I used an ice cream scoop to portion the dough onto cookie trays - I got 17 cookies out of it. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
These are really DDelicious. The rosemary isn't overpowering but it is present as you bite into the cookies crunchy exterior. The lemon is barely detectable, yet it helps the cookie come together in your mouth. If you eat them warm the dripping chocolate chips will remind you of old school cookie commercials but these are like no cookie you've ever had. Seriously good. Try them.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Update - Cafe Oo La La
Who remembers last August when a 92 year old guy drove into Cafe Oo La La? Remember the exciting investigative report by yours truly? Well, it looks like they installed a safety barrier to prevent the cars in the handicapped spaces from ending up inside the restaurant. Stellar work, Stamford. I'm proud.
-HH
Sunday, March 25, 2012 The Exciting Life of a Food Blogger
Being the Headbanging Hostess has brought a great amount of joy into my life. Along with my usual dinner parties with friends I have, indeed, expanded my circle of friends over the past two years to include some of Fairfield County's finest people. I like to refer to them as Fairfield County's Heavy Metal Elite, but they're more than that. In fact, it was that fateful e-mail to Arcane Malevolence that directly led to my participation in Saturday night's bachelorette party for the future Mrs. Ax-Shredding-DeVaney.
When the bachelorette was being planned I suggested Zaza Gastrobar in downtown Stamford. Good, central location, great food - what more could you ask for? Someone in the party called a few days ahead for a reservation but they told us they didn't take reservations but we could wait at the bar if we needed to. Well, when a member of our party tried to get us a table for 8 the hostess actually said "no" and that only 4 tables for 4 were available. So we ate at Remo's. And, while my Country Salad was good, it wasn't Lobster Polenta.
I was bummed, I'll admit it. And slightly pissed that I'd made a recommendation and it had failed me. I e-mailed them the next morning and I'm happy to say they actually e-mailed me back. So they get points for that. The hostess claimed she gave us a 2.5 hour wait time (which was not the case.) They also stated they're not meant to be a restaurant for big parties. So that's that. If we had been told that when we called for the reservation we would have made other plans. Maybe this is more of a miscommunication rather than flat-out bad customer service, but according to the other Google reviews I read it seems to be a recurring problem. The food there is really good - if you get to eat it. I'll leave it at that.
This is similar to our Darien Unsocial visit. It leaves me wondering what I should or could be doing different.
It plays into a new "drama/debate" regarding us lowly food bloggers vs. the real professional food writers. Ugh. Apparently CT Magazine has an article in their April issue putting food bloggers down - we're not trained, we're not pros, blah, blah, bullshit. OmNomCT had a very well written reply. Mine may not be so nice.
First of all, get off your high horse. It's 2012 - everyone has the ability to write and self-publish anything they want to on the web. We're still (pretty much) a free country. If we suck as writers or food critics people won't read us, it's as simple as that. And training? What is that about? I've been eating for 39 years! And, yes, as a matter of fact I have worked in the industry and I do have culinary training under my belt. But - here's the kicker - before anything else I'm an entertainer. I came to this after living decades of my life upon the stage. I've written plays that have been performed across the country. Theatre, like writing, is about communication. People getting together to share a communal experience...kinda like EATING! Pardon me, my inner drama queen is coming out. No one should make sweeping generalizations about other "groups" of people, it's unfair - unless it's for comic affect, of course.
I went to a Connecticut Press Club luncheon at about a year ago about food writing. The panel was very esteemed, all from serious food publications, and they talked to us about the business. One woman, who had been a food writer for longer than most of us have been alive, went over the proper "etiquette" for food writers, which included calling ahead and letting them know you were coming, calling the chef after with questions and really trying hard not to give a negative review because people's livelihoods depended on your words. I can understand that, and you have advertisers to answer to, as well. But, for me, I think it's silly to call up a restaurant and say "Hi! I'm the Headbanging Hostess and I'm coming to your restaurant tonight." And besides the silly factor, I want to be treated as a regular customer. The only way to give an honest (yet entertaining) review is to experience it the way your reader will - as just another customer. Believe me, I've considered getting a button that says "food blogger" as well. When my table goes unnoticed for 13 minutes I feel I should have warned them as I head home to my computer. After that unsocial experience I seriously considered at least tagging Zaza and letting them know we were coming. I honestly forgot to do it, and it may not have mattered.
Once again, it's 2012. I expect restaurants to be connected. Take Station Eats. They're pretty savvy guys, they know exactly how to use social media. They always follow up a post or a tag with a thank you and they're just so nice and down to earth that you want to spend your money there. That's the mark of a fantastic business.
So, what the hell am I going on about. I don't know, at this point I've lost track of my thought process.
Things I know -
- Zaza is not for large parties.
- People always like to think they're superior to other people.
- Station Eats = Good
Things I'm not sure about -
- Calling ahead to let restaurants know the Headbanging Hostess is coming?
- If I see someone walking towards me dressed as a clown can I assume they're a clown?
- Do people take me seriously?
-HH
When the bachelorette was being planned I suggested Zaza Gastrobar in downtown Stamford. Good, central location, great food - what more could you ask for? Someone in the party called a few days ahead for a reservation but they told us they didn't take reservations but we could wait at the bar if we needed to. Well, when a member of our party tried to get us a table for 8 the hostess actually said "no" and that only 4 tables for 4 were available. So we ate at Remo's. And, while my Country Salad was good, it wasn't Lobster Polenta.
I was bummed, I'll admit it. And slightly pissed that I'd made a recommendation and it had failed me. I e-mailed them the next morning and I'm happy to say they actually e-mailed me back. So they get points for that. The hostess claimed she gave us a 2.5 hour wait time (which was not the case.) They also stated they're not meant to be a restaurant for big parties. So that's that. If we had been told that when we called for the reservation we would have made other plans. Maybe this is more of a miscommunication rather than flat-out bad customer service, but according to the other Google reviews I read it seems to be a recurring problem. The food there is really good - if you get to eat it. I'll leave it at that.
This is similar to our Darien Unsocial visit. It leaves me wondering what I should or could be doing different.
It plays into a new "drama/debate" regarding us lowly food bloggers vs. the real professional food writers. Ugh. Apparently CT Magazine has an article in their April issue putting food bloggers down - we're not trained, we're not pros, blah, blah, bullshit. OmNomCT had a very well written reply. Mine may not be so nice.
First of all, get off your high horse. It's 2012 - everyone has the ability to write and self-publish anything they want to on the web. We're still (pretty much) a free country. If we suck as writers or food critics people won't read us, it's as simple as that. And training? What is that about? I've been eating for 39 years! And, yes, as a matter of fact I have worked in the industry and I do have culinary training under my belt. But - here's the kicker - before anything else I'm an entertainer. I came to this after living decades of my life upon the stage. I've written plays that have been performed across the country. Theatre, like writing, is about communication. People getting together to share a communal experience...kinda like EATING! Pardon me, my inner drama queen is coming out. No one should make sweeping generalizations about other "groups" of people, it's unfair - unless it's for comic affect, of course.
I went to a Connecticut Press Club luncheon at about a year ago about food writing. The panel was very esteemed, all from serious food publications, and they talked to us about the business. One woman, who had been a food writer for longer than most of us have been alive, went over the proper "etiquette" for food writers, which included calling ahead and letting them know you were coming, calling the chef after with questions and really trying hard not to give a negative review because people's livelihoods depended on your words. I can understand that, and you have advertisers to answer to, as well. But, for me, I think it's silly to call up a restaurant and say "Hi! I'm the Headbanging Hostess and I'm coming to your restaurant tonight." And besides the silly factor, I want to be treated as a regular customer. The only way to give an honest (yet entertaining) review is to experience it the way your reader will - as just another customer. Believe me, I've considered getting a button that says "food blogger" as well. When my table goes unnoticed for 13 minutes I feel I should have warned them as I head home to my computer. After that unsocial experience I seriously considered at least tagging Zaza and letting them know we were coming. I honestly forgot to do it, and it may not have mattered.
Once again, it's 2012. I expect restaurants to be connected. Take Station Eats. They're pretty savvy guys, they know exactly how to use social media. They always follow up a post or a tag with a thank you and they're just so nice and down to earth that you want to spend your money there. That's the mark of a fantastic business.
So, what the hell am I going on about. I don't know, at this point I've lost track of my thought process.
Things I know -
- Zaza is not for large parties.
- People always like to think they're superior to other people.
- Station Eats = Good
Things I'm not sure about -
- Calling ahead to let restaurants know the Headbanging Hostess is coming?
- If I see someone walking towards me dressed as a clown can I assume they're a clown?
- Do people take me seriously?
-HH
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Brie Cheesecake with a Girl Scout Cookie Crust
I took one for the team this year and bought one box each of the new Girl Scout Cookies. The Savannah Smiles are simply stupendous. Crisp and tart with a melt in your mouth powdered sugar finish. The cranberry ones, Thank U Berry Much, were okay. Maybe I should have waited a day after the lemon one before trying one of these. A good cookie but it lacks the pizazz you would expect from a cookie containing a tart cranberry treat. And it could have used more of them. The tiny bits barely made an impact.
But, I wanted to make something using the cookies. All hopes of a savory dish like last year's Samoas Shrimp were quickly dashed. Neither cookie seemed right for what I had in mind - a cranberry crumble topped Shepard's pie and a lemon crusted chicken or fish. Both were way too sweet, what was I thinking? So my mind went to cheesecake.
Brie Cheesecake
1/2 pound of triple creme brie, softened and rind removed
1/2 pound of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup vanilla sugar (plain sugar is fine, add vanilla extract after the egg)
1 egg
Mix cheeses and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and mix until smooth.
Girl Scout Cookie Crust
8 Thank U Berry Much cookies
4 Savannah Smiles cookies
3 Tablespoons of melted butter
Put cookies in food processor and blend until they're crumbs. Add melted butter and mix. Put nine liners in a cupcake pan and fill each cup with two and a half teaspoons of cookie mixture. Press down into the bottoms of the cups with your fingers.
Using an ice cream scoop fill each cup with cheesecake mixture. I used two scoops per cupcake.
Bake in a hot water bath (I used a roasting pan) at 350 for approximately 25 minutes.
Chill before eating (which I didn't do - I ate it lukewarm and it was DDelicious \m/)
The cookies are actually the star here - the cranberry and lemon flavors dance around your tongue as you consume every creamy, sweet, earthy, smooth, somewhat savory bite of the brie cheesecake. Okay, maybe the cheesecake is the star. It has a real nice finish that doesn't leave an overly sweet "I'm going into a diabetic coma because this dessert was pure sugar" feeling in your mouth.
Try these - that's all I'm going to say. Thanks Girl Scouts! You Rock \m/
-HH
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 The Food Review That Never Was or Unsocial Darien
It was my plan to experience Darien Social tonight. I read their OmNomCT preview (OOPS, and earlier version of this post said review - it was a preveiw), I studied the menu while salivating on my keyboard. I knew I wanted shrimp and grits. But, alas, it was not meant to be.
Thirteen minutes we sat at our table with no service. I know this because we stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription on the way in - it was time stamped 4:50. By the time we left after being ignored for so long it was 5:05. So that's actually 15 minutes, but let's assume 2 minutes were spent walking the 50 feet between CVS and the restaurant and finding a hostess to seat us.
You read that right. We had to find the hostess to seat us. In fact, there's a sign when you go in the front door that directs you to walk to the back, wave to the chef on your way, and find a hostess. When we found her she didn't have menus so we stood there while she went into the main dining room to get them. Then she sat us near the window by the bar. Not sure why - we passed a bunch of empty tables and booths on the way. "These are my favorite tables" she said. So there we sat...for 13 minutes. We read the menu, my husband got up to look at the vodka selection and he was unnoticed by the staff. He sat back down, we waited, nobody brought us water, he expressed his displeasure, still no one acknowledged us, we waited a few more minutes and that was it. We were out of there.
On the way out my husband turned to the busboy and told him why we were leaving and he just said “oh.”
Oh?
So we went to The Goose one block down. We told them what happened and they were very nice to us. They even brought us water. The restaurant was practically empty but we still got great service. Crazy, huh? The beet and goat cheese salad just plain rocked. Red and yellow beets with baby spinach leaves dressed in passion fruit dressing (passion fruit or pomegranate, but I think it’s passion fruit) with beautifully crisp fried goat cheese patties that really should come with everything in life. Dentist with beautifully crisp fried goat cheese patties? I’m there! DMV with goat cheese? Sign me up. I might even consider a stint in the Middle East if crisp fried goat cheese was in the mess hall. Love that salad, have I made the point?
Halfway through our meal the other couple in the restaurant started having a fight. They were raising their voices, him more then her, and totally oblivious to the fact that they were in public. At that point my husband and I just busted out laughing. For the first time in two weeks we get one hour out of the house to enjoy ourselves without the puppy and this is what happens. You just gotta laugh. Or you’ll go nuts.
So the Goose wins! And Swizzles because we hit it on the way home. Fruity pebbles on plain yogurt rock! Ha. That’s punny. \m/
-HH
UPDATE - A comment to the Darien Social Facebook page was deleted. And an email sent to them through their website has gone unanswered. So that's that.
Thirteen minutes we sat at our table with no service. I know this because we stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription on the way in - it was time stamped 4:50. By the time we left after being ignored for so long it was 5:05. So that's actually 15 minutes, but let's assume 2 minutes were spent walking the 50 feet between CVS and the restaurant and finding a hostess to seat us.
You read that right. We had to find the hostess to seat us. In fact, there's a sign when you go in the front door that directs you to walk to the back, wave to the chef on your way, and find a hostess. When we found her she didn't have menus so we stood there while she went into the main dining room to get them. Then she sat us near the window by the bar. Not sure why - we passed a bunch of empty tables and booths on the way. "These are my favorite tables" she said. So there we sat...for 13 minutes. We read the menu, my husband got up to look at the vodka selection and he was unnoticed by the staff. He sat back down, we waited, nobody brought us water, he expressed his displeasure, still no one acknowledged us, we waited a few more minutes and that was it. We were out of there.
On the way out my husband turned to the busboy and told him why we were leaving and he just said “oh.”
Oh?
So we went to The Goose one block down. We told them what happened and they were very nice to us. They even brought us water. The restaurant was practically empty but we still got great service. Crazy, huh? The beet and goat cheese salad just plain rocked. Red and yellow beets with baby spinach leaves dressed in passion fruit dressing (passion fruit or pomegranate, but I think it’s passion fruit) with beautifully crisp fried goat cheese patties that really should come with everything in life. Dentist with beautifully crisp fried goat cheese patties? I’m there! DMV with goat cheese? Sign me up. I might even consider a stint in the Middle East if crisp fried goat cheese was in the mess hall. Love that salad, have I made the point?
Halfway through our meal the other couple in the restaurant started having a fight. They were raising their voices, him more then her, and totally oblivious to the fact that they were in public. At that point my husband and I just busted out laughing. For the first time in two weeks we get one hour out of the house to enjoy ourselves without the puppy and this is what happens. You just gotta laugh. Or you’ll go nuts.
So the Goose wins! And Swizzles because we hit it on the way home. Fruity pebbles on plain yogurt rock! Ha. That’s punny. \m/
-HH
UPDATE - A comment to the Darien Social Facebook page was deleted. And an email sent to them through their website has gone unanswered. So that's that.
Thursday, March 8, 2012 For Shame...
I like to rant about what we feed our children in school. And by our children I mean your children because I don't have any human kids. In fact, I also like to rant about what you feed your children at home because, frankly, home cooking seems to be a lost art and the people who suffer that loss are the kids. Yeah, yeah, I know you can't cook every meal from scratch. But you know you need to do better. But that's not what this post is about.
Have you heard about the 7 million pounds of "pink slime" the feds are buying to feed your kids? You can't make this shit up. Here we are with a First Lady who claims to care about what you and your kids eat and the government is buying inedible, ammonia treated garbage to feed your kids! Talk about a reason to home school!
Now, I think it's kinda funny. I read a lot of articles about food and school lunch programs. It seems when the point of an article is to improve the nutritional value of the school lunch the writer highlights the lack of vegetables, lack of color (everything is a deep fried beige) and the reliance on processed, canned and otherwise unappetizing food.
But when the purpose of the article is to expand the school lunch program to include breakfast, and even dinner, then the writer will stress the importance of good nutrition and claim the school is providing proper nutrition for children who otherwise wouldn't get fed at home.
Um. Which one is it?
Never mind the fact that people who can't feed their children really shouldn't have had them in the first place. That opens up a can of worms that'll keep everyone arguing 'till the cows come home. The cows being the fat children who are fed crappy food at school and never go play outside. Either school lunch is good or it's not. And I think, if the feds are considering buying 7 million pounds of pink slime to feed the kids, it's not good. It's not good at all.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. And I'll keep saying it until someone fucking listens. Make lunch part of the curriculum! There's no reason every school can't have a garden. There's no reason every school can't have a compost heap. Aquaculture! Combining hydroponics and agriculture to grow veggies using fish.
-HH
Sign the petition to get the pink slime off the spork.
Have you heard about the 7 million pounds of "pink slime" the feds are buying to feed your kids? You can't make this shit up. Here we are with a First Lady who claims to care about what you and your kids eat and the government is buying inedible, ammonia treated garbage to feed your kids! Talk about a reason to home school!
Now, I think it's kinda funny. I read a lot of articles about food and school lunch programs. It seems when the point of an article is to improve the nutritional value of the school lunch the writer highlights the lack of vegetables, lack of color (everything is a deep fried beige) and the reliance on processed, canned and otherwise unappetizing food.
But when the purpose of the article is to expand the school lunch program to include breakfast, and even dinner, then the writer will stress the importance of good nutrition and claim the school is providing proper nutrition for children who otherwise wouldn't get fed at home.
Um. Which one is it?
Never mind the fact that people who can't feed their children really shouldn't have had them in the first place. That opens up a can of worms that'll keep everyone arguing 'till the cows come home. The cows being the fat children who are fed crappy food at school and never go play outside. Either school lunch is good or it's not. And I think, if the feds are considering buying 7 million pounds of pink slime to feed the kids, it's not good. It's not good at all.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. And I'll keep saying it until someone fucking listens. Make lunch part of the curriculum! There's no reason every school can't have a garden. There's no reason every school can't have a compost heap. Aquaculture! Combining hydroponics and agriculture to grow veggies using fish.
Aquaponic greenhouse yields food for business: wtnh.com
If that isn't the coolest thing around I don't know what is. Can you imagine the powerful effect of seeing science at work and putting it into your belly? You can teach history through food. The possibilities are endless. Without food we have nothing! It's time we acknowledged that and passed it onto our children. And by our children I mean your children.-HH
Sign the petition to get the pink slime off the spork.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 I'm Back and There's Less of Me \m/
At my last weigh in I was down 10 pounds since starting my diet. That was about a week ago. Since getting this adorable puppy 2 1/2 weeks ago I haven't had much "me time." Yes, even weighing myself in the morning can prove to be an issue. So can showering, going to the bathroom by myself and (of course) cooking.
I've made a few batches of my Kitchen Sink Cookies. They're a great way to sneak a little more fiber (and some chocolate) into my diet. Yesterday's batch had Pretzel M&M's! Nummy.
But, to continue on my high fiber diet that has me shedding the pounds with little effort, I'm eating Smart Taste pasta, whole grain toast with peanut butter, Kashi cereal, yogurt and one meal a day. That one meal always has veggies, sometimes brown rice or barley. Sometimes it's vegetarian and sometimes there's chicken, pork, beef or fish. Sometimes I'll eat cheese, but that's a real treat. My diet has drastically changed from 6 months ago. Three years ago I ate like this all the time. And when I'm ready I'll be getting those clothes out of storage and wearing them. 15 more pounds to reach my old "I'm an actress" weight of 105.
Wish me luck.
I have managed to treat myself a few times. The first week Apollo was here my neighbor puppy sat so we could get some time to ourselves. Off we went to Zaza Gastrobar in downtown Stamford which OmNomCT had raved about. Reading their review I just had to have that lobster polenta, and the rest of the menu looked equally good. I wish I could say I took pictures, but I had relaxation on the mind that night. The restaurant is just beautiful - my color scheme with black and red. The chandeliers alone are worth the trip. The place is pretty hip, something I try to stay away from usually. I can't stand when people go somewhere to be seen. And it's not just restaurants, it's outdoor Shakespeare, too. But that's just me and I'm strange. The music at Zaza was horrendous and too loud, another sign of the tragically hip, but no one is perfect and I expected the food would be the music for my ears. It was.
We started off with the smoked mozzerela plate - served with olives, roasted peppers, grilled eggplant and prochuitto it was the perfect way to start the meal. They have a nice selection of fresh mozz as well, I'll have to try another one one my next visit. The lobster polenta was more amazing than I expected. It's what the lobster mac-n-cheese at Gray Goose in Southport wants to be. (Talk about people wanting to be seen. I actually saw a guy in kakis and a blue blazer with the gold buttons. The atmosphere was annoying and the food was nothing to write about. So I'll stop,) Zaza actually delivers on taste. My other dish, roasted beets with fennel, was simple stupendous. I expected the lobster polenta to rock, but this dish with it's perfectly roasted beets smothered in gorgonzola, walnuts and balsamic was - To. Die. For. I can see myself stopping by on a hot summer day after walking downtown to get a plate of beets to cool my soul. Two Tits Up for Zaza Gastobar.
Speaking of hot summer days Station Eats has opened up their Stamford location. Along with the usual DDelicious Station Eats fare they have ALCOHOLIC MILKSHAKES! Somehow they knew that the only way I can drink alcohol is when it's mixed with ice cream. I'll be stopping in for a shake and stumbling back to the Cove on numerous occasions this summer. If you happen to be driving by please don't run me over.
And last but not least, last night I went to Rico's. Ahhh AHHH! Rico's is located in a section of Stamford that most people don't go to. I'll leave out any mention of bad neighborhoods (or will I?) and focus on the food. (Since they're opening a new restaurant in Newfield Green you won't have to worry about your safety.) The Selleck Street location was empty - but the numerous delivery vehicles in the parking lot told the story. These guys have made a killing doing what Colony doesn't do. Ha! Gotta love the American entrepreneurial spirit - especially when it comes with fan-fucking-tastic pizza. Service was horrendously slow - considering we were the only people in the place. The waiter was a nice young man who was extremely polite, a rarity in Stamford, but it took at least 45 minutes for our pizzas to come out. Worth the wait? Absolutely. These guys execute the trademark pie a thousand times better than the original. Thin crispy crust, the right amount of crisped up cheese on the rim, the sauce is seasoned perfectly. I'm eating a cold slice right now for breakfast and I couldn't be happier. Two Tits Up for Rico's.
And now, to wrap up this lengthy post, a video of my boy :)
-HH
I've made a few batches of my Kitchen Sink Cookies. They're a great way to sneak a little more fiber (and some chocolate) into my diet. Yesterday's batch had Pretzel M&M's! Nummy.
But, to continue on my high fiber diet that has me shedding the pounds with little effort, I'm eating Smart Taste pasta, whole grain toast with peanut butter, Kashi cereal, yogurt and one meal a day. That one meal always has veggies, sometimes brown rice or barley. Sometimes it's vegetarian and sometimes there's chicken, pork, beef or fish. Sometimes I'll eat cheese, but that's a real treat. My diet has drastically changed from 6 months ago. Three years ago I ate like this all the time. And when I'm ready I'll be getting those clothes out of storage and wearing them. 15 more pounds to reach my old "I'm an actress" weight of 105.
Wish me luck.
I have managed to treat myself a few times. The first week Apollo was here my neighbor puppy sat so we could get some time to ourselves. Off we went to Zaza Gastrobar in downtown Stamford which OmNomCT had raved about. Reading their review I just had to have that lobster polenta, and the rest of the menu looked equally good. I wish I could say I took pictures, but I had relaxation on the mind that night. The restaurant is just beautiful - my color scheme with black and red. The chandeliers alone are worth the trip. The place is pretty hip, something I try to stay away from usually. I can't stand when people go somewhere to be seen. And it's not just restaurants, it's outdoor Shakespeare, too. But that's just me and I'm strange. The music at Zaza was horrendous and too loud, another sign of the tragically hip, but no one is perfect and I expected the food would be the music for my ears. It was.
We started off with the smoked mozzerela plate - served with olives, roasted peppers, grilled eggplant and prochuitto it was the perfect way to start the meal. They have a nice selection of fresh mozz as well, I'll have to try another one one my next visit. The lobster polenta was more amazing than I expected. It's what the lobster mac-n-cheese at Gray Goose in Southport wants to be. (Talk about people wanting to be seen. I actually saw a guy in kakis and a blue blazer with the gold buttons. The atmosphere was annoying and the food was nothing to write about. So I'll stop,) Zaza actually delivers on taste. My other dish, roasted beets with fennel, was simple stupendous. I expected the lobster polenta to rock, but this dish with it's perfectly roasted beets smothered in gorgonzola, walnuts and balsamic was - To. Die. For. I can see myself stopping by on a hot summer day after walking downtown to get a plate of beets to cool my soul. Two Tits Up for Zaza Gastobar.
Speaking of hot summer days Station Eats has opened up their Stamford location. Along with the usual DDelicious Station Eats fare they have ALCOHOLIC MILKSHAKES! Somehow they knew that the only way I can drink alcohol is when it's mixed with ice cream. I'll be stopping in for a shake and stumbling back to the Cove on numerous occasions this summer. If you happen to be driving by please don't run me over.
And last but not least, last night I went to Rico's. Ahhh AHHH! Rico's is located in a section of Stamford that most people don't go to. I'll leave out any mention of bad neighborhoods (or will I?) and focus on the food. (Since they're opening a new restaurant in Newfield Green you won't have to worry about your safety.) The Selleck Street location was empty - but the numerous delivery vehicles in the parking lot told the story. These guys have made a killing doing what Colony doesn't do. Ha! Gotta love the American entrepreneurial spirit - especially when it comes with fan-fucking-tastic pizza. Service was horrendously slow - considering we were the only people in the place. The waiter was a nice young man who was extremely polite, a rarity in Stamford, but it took at least 45 minutes for our pizzas to come out. Worth the wait? Absolutely. These guys execute the trademark pie a thousand times better than the original. Thin crispy crust, the right amount of crisped up cheese on the rim, the sauce is seasoned perfectly. I'm eating a cold slice right now for breakfast and I couldn't be happier. Two Tits Up for Rico's.
And now, to wrap up this lengthy post, a video of my boy :)
-HH
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 Hi, Atus! Nice to meet you!
Between my diet and my new puppy I have completely lost all interest in food. Yesterday I ate one taco for dinner and was stuffed. This is good for my waistline, bad for my blog.
So what's going to happen to the Headbanging Hostess? I have no idea. Apollo has been home for 4 days - we are sleep deprived, unable to tend to our own personal hygiene and the house looks like a bomb dropped on it. It was so clean...
I just finished reading a book called The Believing Brain. Keep an eye on Alternative Control for my review. I'm already itching to go to the library for a new book. I'm hoping to replace eating with reading and expanding my brain power instead of my ass.
I have a full-length play to finish writing. I also have a play in production now in Fairfield. And I have this puppy to raise.
So let's call it a hiatus. I'll be back - in a new form (both physically and mentally) until then... Rock on!
-HH
So what's going to happen to the Headbanging Hostess? I have no idea. Apollo has been home for 4 days - we are sleep deprived, unable to tend to our own personal hygiene and the house looks like a bomb dropped on it. It was so clean...
I just finished reading a book called The Believing Brain. Keep an eye on Alternative Control for my review. I'm already itching to go to the library for a new book. I'm hoping to replace eating with reading and expanding my brain power instead of my ass.
I have a full-length play to finish writing. I also have a play in production now in Fairfield. And I have this puppy to raise.
So let's call it a hiatus. I'll be back - in a new form (both physically and mentally) until then... Rock on!
-HH
Thursday, February 16, 2012 Kitchen Sink Cookies
The other day I made oatmeal raisin cookies with almost no oatmeal and absolutely no raisins. Neat, huh? This is one of the joys of having gone to culinary school. Understanding recipes and how they work allows you the freedom of changing them around, if need be, and you won't end up with an inedible product.
Professional baking recipes are done by weight, not volume. Nothing about cups in a professional recipe. At different times of the year that cup of flour is going to have different weights, never mind how densely you pack the cup. If you weigh the ingredients you'll end up with a more consistent cookie (or pie crust, cake, bread, etc.)
So here we go. This is basically the recipe. I'll explain the science as best I can, including viable substitutions. You'll notice some of the smaller amounts (baking soda, cinnamon) are in teaspoons. Not everyone has a scale that can measure such small amounts. For the larger amounts a postal scale does the trick. It's worth the investment if you're going to be baking a lot.
Kitchen Sink Cookie Formula
4 oz Butter
7 oz brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
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1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon sour cream
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6 oz AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
5 oz oats
1 Tablespoon milled flax seed
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4 oz raisins
Okay, so let's first talk about those lines. Those indicate your mixing pattern. The first ingredients are creamed together in a blender - keep mixing until it looks like a uniform cream. Starting off with room temperature butter is key.
Add your egg and mix it in until the mixture is again uniform. Add your vanilla and sour cream and mix in.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before adding to the dry ingredients. Once it is all combined add the raisins.
Bake at 350 until done, this depends on the size of your cookie. Mine were slightly less than the size of my palm and they took 20-25 minutes.
Now! Onto the fun stuff and the science - they go hand in hand.
The butter is obviously the fat in the recipe. You can substitute apple sauce for butter if you're watching your calories. You can do half and half and get the taste of butter and half of the fat. The pectin in the apple sauce also helps keep your cookies together. And you can always substitute another fat - shortening, oil, bacon fat. Go ahead.
Brown sugar is what we call an acid (along with maple syrup, honey). The molasses in the sugar reacts with the baking soda to provide a little lift in your cookie. If you don't have brown sugar you can do half white sugar and half molasses, maple syrup or honey. If you were to use plain white sugar you'd need to use baking powder, which contains an added acid. And you'd need to use more of it - one teaspoon of soda is roughly equal to three teaspoons of powder. But why bother? Brown sugar gives the cookies a fantastic taste.
Sour cream is another acid (as is buttermilk, yogurt) that will react with the baking soda. I've started replacing milk in recipes with sour cream. I made corn bread with sour cream... Mmm, mmm, mmm. That'll have to be a future post.
As for the oats in the recipe, that's where I came up short. I used what little oats I had in combination with the crumbs from the bottom of my Kashi cereals to make up the 4 oz. I crushed the cereal a little just to break up any big chunks. You can use steel cut oats, cereal, granola. Have a little fun.
And the raisins...the raisins that I didn't have. I used chocolate chunks from a hot chocolate kit, sliced almonds and pecans. Hence the kitchen sink reference. Go nuts with this one, no pun intended. Dried fruit, chips, nuts, bacon! Just try it!
If you follow the ratios and principles of the recipe you're almost guaranteed not to fail. I say almost because we all make mistakes - and even if you screw it up the ingredients only cost a couple bucks.
So go ahead and try it! What's the worst thing that can happen?
-HH
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